A new domestic development from CJSC MCST - a four-core microprocessor "Elbrus-4S" - is ready for the start of serial production. At the same time, this processor is able to provide a level of performance that is comparable to modern microprocessors produced by leading foreign companies. Today it is the most high-performance processor that was created and will be produced in Russia.
It should be noted that CJSC MCST is the legal successor of Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies LLP. The company started its activities in April 1992. It was created on the basis of the department of the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering (ITM and VT) named after S. A. Lebedev - one of the undisputed leaders of the domestic electronic engineering. MCST is a Russian enterprise with a 20-year history. At the same time, it has always attracted the attention of both Russian and foreign IT specialists with its developments.
The systems that were created by ITM and VT specialists, at one time were the basis of domestic computing systems and resources. They have found application in the most knowledge-intensive sectors of our society, which certainly include nuclear energy, space exploration, fundamental and applied scientific research. Among the most famous developments of the institute are the domestic supercomputers BESM, Elbrus-1KB, Elbrus-1 and Elbrus-2. There is no doubt that Elbrus-4C microprocessors and systems based on it will take their rightful place in this company.
Today the Elbrus-4C microprocessor is the most high-performance solution in the company's product portfolio. Elbrus-4C is a universal 64-bit microprocessor suitable for solving various computational tasks. The processor contains 4 cores that run at 800 MHz and supports 3 channels of DDR3-1600 memory. MCST specialists have implemented the possibility of combining 4 chips into a multiprocessor system with shared memory. Quad-core processor Elbrus-4C is produced using 65 nanometer (nm) technology, the average power consumption of the processor is only 45 watts.
It is worth noting that in terms of the manufacturing process, the Russian company is approximately 8-10 years behind Intel. The most modern Intel i3 and Intel i5 processors, built on the Ivy Bridge architecture, are manufactured using the 22 nm process technology. The technical process using 65-nanometer technologies began to be used by the world's leading manufacturers of microprocessors in 2004, and such processors went into serial production in 2006.
The Elbrus-4S processor is a logical continuation of the line of microprocessors built on the basis of the Russian Elbrus architecture, which was created at MCST. In one cycle, each core of a new microprocessor is able to perform 23 operations, while for RISC microprocessors this figure is several times less. The Russian processor has developed support for floating point operations. The total computing power of all 4 processor cores is about 50 gigaflops with single precision and about 25 gigaflops with double precision. The Elbrus-4C processors, despite the relatively low operating clock speed, are able to provide performance in many real-life tasks that is comparable to the leading foreign processors of foreign production, the same Intel i3 and i5, RIA Novosti reports.
The working name of the Elbrus-4S processor was Elbrus-2S
Compared to the processor of the previous generation Elbrus-2C +, major changes were made to the Elbrus-4C architecture to improve its performance: support was introduced for binary translation of 64-bit Intel / AMD codes (at the hardware level), memory, added support for binary translation in multi-threaded mode. In addition, the memory subsystem has undergone a complete revision: the new DDR3-1600 memory standard has been mastered, the number of memory channels has increased, and the efficiency of the chip in multiprocessor systems has been increased. Also, on the basis of the Elbrus-4C quad-core processor, a server was created that supports 4 microprocessors and 2 KPI southern bridges, which are also developed by MCST.
A distinctive feature of all computing platforms that are currently being created at MCST is a power of attorney: all key components, hardware and software, were created by MCST specialists and have a complete set of design documentation. Elbrus-4C processors can become the basis for creating a wide range of trusted Russian computing equipment: personal computers, servers, as well as embedded solutions. Employees of JSC INEUM im. I. S. Brook , which is a key partner of CJSC MCST.
The new MCST processor is a logical development of the previous Elbrus-2C + processors, which were created back in 2011. Like its predecessor, the new Russian processor is primarily intended for use in the military sphere, where a foreign-made electronic component base cannot be used due to possible malicious "bugs". In addition, the new microprocessor meets the increased demands on life cycle and temperature range. Processors are well suited for scientific computing and other work that requires a high level of protection against possible unauthorized access. However, the company does not exclude the possibility that computers equipped with an Elbrus-4C processor may be of interest to ordinary computer users.
Especially for the new MCST processor, specialists have created their own operating system called "Elbrus", which is based on the Linux kernel version 2.6.33. This operating system includes more than 3 thousand software packages from the Debian 5.0 distribution, as well as a package manager. There is a complete set of developer tools, which includes optimizing compilers for high-level programming languages C, C ++, as well as Fortran-77 and Fortran-90. It has its own profiler, debugger, signal processing and math functions library. At the same time, the Elbrus operating system has passed the certification procedure for the second class of protection against unauthorized access, as well as the second level of control over undeclared capabilities. It is also worth noting that on computers built on the basis of the Elbrus-4C processor, it will be possible to use modern versions of Windows OS, as well as programs running under this operating system. This is achieved through the implementation of hardware support for binary translation of 64-bit codes from Intel and AMD.
For the first time Elbrus-4C processors were shown to the public in March this year at the specialized exhibition "New Electronics - 2014". It has not yet been announced when exactly it is planned to start producing new microprocessors. Earlier in March 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that improving the Russian electronic component base is one of the most important areas for the successful implementation of the state defense order, since possible sanctions from Western countries could interfere with the rearmament of the Russian army. The modern quad-core processor Elbrus-4C is planned to be used on server equipment, as well as where it is necessary to ensure the replacement of foreign technologies in order to ensure the autonomy of work and the required level of secrecy.
At present, ZAO MCST continues development work on the creation of new processors. In particular, within the framework of the program "Development of a heterogeneous microprocessor with a peak performance of more than 150 gigaflops", which will be built on the basis of high-performance 64-bit cores. The aim of this project is to create a Russian server-class Elbrus-8C multicore processor with the Elbrus architecture and designed to solve computationally intensive tasks and to build multiprocessor and multicomputer systems related to the teraflop performance class.
